


Simple Twist of Fate

by imaginescerek



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-09 04:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginescerek/pseuds/imaginescerek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We get that you’re angry," Talia consoled. </p><p>Derek glared at his mother. It wasn’t something he did often, she was his alpha after all, but he felt warranted enough this time. “You just told me that I’m getting married in two weeks to some guy I’ve never even heard of. I’m not angry mom, I’m furious!”</p><p>Based on this <a href="http://imagineyourotp.tumblr.com/post/45796876374/imagine-your-otp-have-never-met-before-until-the">prompt</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Simple Twist of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Also found on [tumblr](http://imaginescerek.tumblr.com/post/73741952651/imagine-your-otp-have-never-met-before-until-the)

Derek was pissed off. He couldn’t what believe his mother, his alpha just announced to him. Or that this was something that his parents would do to him.

"We get that you’re angry," Talia consoled. 

Derek glared at his mother. It wasn’t something he did often, she was his alpha after all, but he felt warranted enough this time. “You just told me that I’m getting married in two weeks to some guy I’ve never even heard of. I’m not angry mom, I’m furious!”

Talia just sighed. “You know we wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t best thing for both packs.”

His glare faltered. “I know.” And he did. His mother would never make a decision as big as this one if it wasn’t. “I just wish there was some other way.”

"We do too," his father spoke up for the first time since they broke the news to him. "But this is not a decision your mother and Alpha McCall made lightly. She’s pretty protective of her son too you know. And your mother had to choose between you and Cora-"

Derek’s head snapped up at the mention of his sister, his protective instincts coming to the surface. “No!”

Cora was barely out of high school. She is too young to be thrown into pack politics. And unlike him, she was too pure. He’s the screw up, not her. She deserves to have a choice just like Laura had hers.

Derek willed himself to calm down. There was no use for anger right now. No matter how much he hated the situation he was being put in. “When will they be here?”

The glance between his parents was enough to tell him that he’s probably not going to like the answer.

"They’ll be here by tomorrow evening."

He was right.

* * *

Four people arrived from the McCall pack the next day. The alpha, Melissa with three betas, Erica, Stiles (seriously who names their kid Stiles?), and most importantly the alpha’s son, Scott, the person he was going to marry in two weeks.

He was a couple years younger than Derek and not bad looking, despite his crooked jaw. Derek just wished he stopped smiling so much. It’s unsettling. How could someone in his situation still be so happy?

They barely got to exchange two words of greeting before the other pack was ushered off to freshen up before dinner. Derek went back to his room so he could gather himself before having to face them again. It hit him that this wasn’t going to remain his room soon. It’d be his and Scott’s.

He shook his head at the thought and got ready to go back down.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair or at least it was for Derek who didn’t speak until spoken to and the only one who really talked to him was Melissa, who probably wanted to know a bit more about the person she betrothed her son to. He kept his answers short and polite. Just because he hated this whole thing, doesn’t mean he could screw it up.

Scott was receiving the same treatment except it was from Laura instead of his mother, who Derek imagined had her own protective streak flaring up. Derek occasionally heard some of Scott’s answers, when he wasn’t giving out answers of his own.

They were done with dinner when Talia turned to Derek, “Why don’t you and Scott go down to the lake? Get to know each other a little.”

Derek heard the command underneath the casual tone, telling him that this was something she wasn’t going to budge on. So he sighed internally and turned to Scott, who was already getting up from his seat.

Derek hated how willing he seemed.

* * *

The lake wasn’t far away. It used to be where all the pack kids hung out, especially during summer. Derek stopped by the swing that he had made with his father. Cora had insisted on wanting an actual swing rather than the rubber one he and Laura had used. He wished he could be that kid again. Erase everything that has happened since.

"This place is beautiful," he heard Scott say from beside him.

"We try to keep it that way. Some place safe for the kids to hang out."

Scott nods before walking closer to the lake. He sits down on the grass after a moment of taking in their surroundings. Derek went over and sat beside him, not knowing what else to do.

"I might take over for the kids at night, though," Scott spoke up again. "Gaze at the stars. We don’t get much of that back home." He turned to look at Derek. "After the honeymoon, of course."

Derek forehead scrunched up in confusion. “What honeymoon?”

"Ours," he replied casually. "Overheard our moms talking when as we were leaving the table."

Derek rolled his eyes. Of course they were making more decisions without including them. And Scott still didn’t seem bothered by any of it. 

"How are you so nonchalant about this? You’re about to get married to a man you know next to nothing about. Aren’t you even a little bit concerned?"

Scott shrugged. “It’s not like it’s unusual for packs to arrange marriages for their betas. I mean sure, I’ve never thought about it but there was always a possibility.”

Shaking his head, Derek replied. “But wouldn’t you like to have a choice? Isn’t there someone that you like?”

"Wait, is there someone in your life?" Derek could hear the concern in his voice. 

"No. Not anymore."

"You didn’t break up because of this did you?" Scott asked, waving a hand between the both of them.

"No. It was months ago. She was…" Derek paused. What was he supposed to say? A psycho who threatened my family? He wondered if that was why his family agreed to this. "…we didn’t work out."

Scott probably didn’t buy that but Derek was glad he didn’t push. “You still haven’t answered my question,” Derek prompted.

"I’m not with anyone, nor do I like someone," Scott assured. "As for my choice. I like to believe that I did have a choise. I chose to accept this relationship. I chose to trust my mom to do what she thought was best. And I choose to believe that we can make this relationship work. Just because I didn’t get to choose what I want, that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t choose what to do with what I have."

Derek stared at the man beside him. He wasn’t sure if Scott had that as much faith that everything will be fine or if he was just too naive to know any better. Whatever it was, Derek wished he had it. It seemed like a good thing to have.

He was trying to figure out how to reply to what had been said when Scott smiled. “I get it. Stiles thinks I’m being stupid too.”

"I don’t think it’s stupid."

"Naive, then."

Derek couldn’t deny that one.

Scott’s smile grew wider. “I learned a long time ago that I gain more by believing in the good then worrying about the bad.”

Derek turned back to looking at the lake, watching the ripples the soft breeze made. He saw Scott do the same from the corner of his eye. It was a while before he murmured, “Maybe you’re believing in the wrong thing.” 

Scott smiled, his eyes never leaving the view in front of him. “That’s a chance that we all take, don’t we?”

Derek kept his attention on the lake, not answering Scott.

They headed back to the house not long after that.

* * *

The next few days were filled with wedding preparations. Laura often roped him in to help with the planning no matter how much he wished she didn’t.

(“ _I really don’t care what kind of cake we get.”_

_"All the bands sound the same to me."_

_"Cream and lemon chiffon are the same damn thing, Laura."_ )

Scott seemed to go along with it, at least from what Derek could see. It was something he had taken to, watching Scott when he was around. That was the only way he could get to know his husband-to-be since they haven’t really talked to each other after the night at the lake. 

Scott was getting along with everyone. Even Laura, who continued given him a hard time for two whole days, liked him. He could see why though, Scott was helpful, caring, kind and always manages to find something smile about. As far as Derek could tell, his biggest flaw was his choice of best friend, who seemed to want to do everything possible to get on Derek’s nerve.

"At least he’ll be gone after the wedding," Derek muttered under his breath.

"Who will be gone?" Scott questioned from behind him.

_Shit._

"No one," was the best reply that he could come up with.

Scott sat opposite Derek at the picnic table that he’s been miraculously taking refuge at for the past half hour. The younger man grinned. “I’m going to take a stab at it and say Stiles.”

Derek cringed. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

"Except that you’ll be glad he’ll be gone so he’d stop bothering you."

Derek didn’t know how to answer that. Saying yes would sound rude. He couldn’t say no because he’d be lying and Scott would find out anyway. He settled for an apologetic look, not expecting Scott to laugh.

"It’s okay. He gets a little obnoxious when he doesn’t like someone."

"I haven’t done anything to him," Derek objected. 

"You’re taking his best friend away."

Derek scowled. “I’m not the one who decided that.”

"He knows. It’s just easier to take it out on you, I guess," Scott shrugged. "I’ll try to get him to stop."

Derek was absolutely confident that even Scott wouldn't be able to do that. “Just get him to stop with the nicknames alright?” Derek sighed. “I have young, impressionable cousins coming for the wedding, I don’t need them to latch on. I’d never hear the end of it.”

"I can do that," Scott agreed.

The two of them sat in silence. Derek wasn’t exactly sure what to say to him. He still had questions for Scott, he is after all spending the rest of his life with the guy, but he didn’t know where to start or how to bring it up. So he went with the easiest one that popped in his mind.

"What are you doing out here anyway?"

Scott returned his focus on to Derek. “Had to get away from all the decision making that’s going on inside. And since you were doing a good job of avoiding it out here-“

"You thought you’d come here so if they need anything, neither of us could escape."

"Yup," Scott answered popping the ‘p’. "It’s your wedding too. Wouldn’t want you to feel left out."

"Traitor."

"Get used to it."

They stared at each other before breaking into a laugh. It was the first time they had a chance to banter like that. It was different from how he was with Kate. It felt nice.

"Looks like you’re getting along with everyone."

Scott nodded. “They’ve all been really nice to me. Which is good, I guess since I’m gonna be staying here.”

"Why are you staying here?" Okay that came out wrong. Scott’s frown told him that’s exactly how it was taken. "What I meant was that mom told me you agreed to stay here. You’re the only child of the alpha right? I would imagine they’d want you remain with your pack."

"A lot of the pack did when they found out about it," Scott confirmed. "But correct me if I’m wrong, those in this pack are related by blood or marriage right?"

"Most of us, yeah. We don’t turn others away if they’re in need but we mostly to ally ourselves with other packs. Mom sends omegas to them if she thinks they’d be a better fit in another pack."

"I know." When Derek tilted his head in confusion, Scott adds, "My pack mate, Isaac was right outside of this town when his pack was attacked, no one survived. Your mother found him, thought he’d benefit by being with us. She was right."

"I’m glad things worked out."

"Me too. He’s a good friend," Scott replied with a fond smile. "That’s how the pack grows. Many were omegas looking for shelter. That’s why I came here. The McCall pack can grow without me. It finds strength with those who seek a home. The Hale pack finds strength in family, feels cruel to rip that apart."

"But if you’re here-"

"I’ll be in the unique position of being a part of both packs, just like you. That’s what marriages do right? Bonds two packs and strengthens them."

"What if there comes a time that the pack needs an alpha?" Derek questioned. "A lot of power transfers happen through bloodlines." 

"Not if the alpha names a successor. "

Derek’s raised his eyebrows. “That might not be the best thing to maintain pack peace.”

"No," Scott said quietly, his face falling. "It isn’t."

 _Shit._  Derek cursed at himself. “Scott, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up the past.”

Scott shook his head. “It’s not your fault my grandfather chose my mom over his own son. Or that my dad’s an asshole.”

Derek noticed that Scott’s hands were clenched on the table even though he dismissed his apology. Before Derek realized what he was doing, his reached out to place his own hand on Scott’s to offer whatever comfort he could.

"He was an only child too, thought he’d get to be the alpha," Scott looked down at their hands where Derek had taken to rubbing circles on the back of his hands, something he remembers his mother doing to comfort them when they were little. "Left a week after my mom became one instead."

"Have you talked to him since?" Derek asked softly.

Scott’s eyebrows furrowed, “Once. When I was 16. He wanted to join the pack again after being kicked out of his old one. But my mom refused. Haven’t heard from him since.”

"I’m sorry."

"Me too."

Scott took a deep breath, and exhaled as if trying to relieve the tension from his body. Derek withdrew his hand, knowing that whatever moment they had was broken by the action. He couldn’t help but be glad, not wanting Scott to dwell in his past.

"Anyway," Scott started, "there are a lot of good people in that pack. Some of them capable enough to become an alpha. But if something does happen, we’ll just have to deal with it….Maybe even together."

Derek looked up, seeing what he could best describe as tentative hope in Scott’s eyes. It made his stomach clench that their relationship was the first thing he’s seen Scott be insecure about. 

He must have stayed quiet for too long because Scott got up from his seat. “I’m kinda tired, I think I’ll just go to bed.”

"Yeah, sure."

"You should too you know. It’s the weekend, which means you’d have to spend the whole day trying to figure things out for the wedding." Scott smiled at Derek’s disgruntled look. "And we’d have to go shopping for tux’s on Sunday."

The thought of it made Derek groan. “Can we just elope? All they want is for us to be married right? We can do that at Vegas or something.”

"Pretty sure they’d chain us up if we tried."

"Couldn’t hurt."

Scott tried to control his laughter. “Goodnight, Derek,” he said instead of replying.

"Goodnight, Scott."

* * *

Derek spent half the night lying awake in his bed. He felt like crap for letting Scott think that he wouldn’t be with him in the future. Scott may not have said it but having a pack member, his own father, leave like that must have hit him hard. Bonds between werewolves are not like human bonds, they run deeper and the undercurrent of pain lasts a lot longer.

Derek couldn’t imagine doing something like that to someone willingly. But he doubted Scott knew that. Not that anyone could blame him. Derek may have played good host and went along with everything in the past week, but he was still sulking about having to go through this. Part of him knew that accepting it was the best thing he could do but he refused. And that was a shitty thing for him to do when he wasn’t the only one going through this.

He promised himself that he’d try to do better. He had to at least give this a chance.

* * *

The next few days went better. Derek still scowled when making decisions about things he knew nothing about but he started talking to Scott a lot more than he did before. It wasn’t hard. Derek realized that he actually enjoyed the company. Scott was accommodating without being a pushover, smart but not arrogant, wise even though he held a child-like fascination, and he was funny without being insufferable. They bantered frequently and had conversations about random things if they ever catch a moment alone, which if Derek was being honest with himself was something he tried to orchestrate more than once.

He was different from Derek in so many ways but somehow they managed to find a balance when they’re with each other.

For the first time in over a week, Derek was hopeful that this whole thing was not going to end in disaster after all.

* * *

Derek turned to his side, trying to find a comfortable position. It's been almost an hour since he came up to bed and he frustrated him that he just could not seem to fall asleep.

He knew the reason behind his restlessness. The wedding was three days away and he was starting to get nervous. It wasn't that he was marrying someone he just met, no, he was getting over that. It was the whole ceremony itself and the expectations that come with it. God, he hated feeling this way.

He huffed before turning on his back.

"Why don't you just go take a walk or something."

"Go to sleep, Cora."

"I'm trying but  _someone_  isn't being quiet enough." Cora leaned over the bed to look at him, a smile on her lips. "Nervous, big brother?"

"No," Derek shot back. "Someone just took over my bed and I can't sleep on the floor."

Cora rolls her eyes. "It's not my fault we needed to make space for visiting pack members. It's not my wedding they're attending."

"If you do get married, I'm making you sleep in a tent."

"Ouch. And here I was going to invite you to share the bed."

"Why would I do that? You kick in your sleep."

"That happened once!" she protested.

"Twice," Derek corrected.

"No. I was awake the second time. You were just being an ass to me that day."

Derek snorted but moved to the bed when Cora shifted to give him space.

"It's not Scott is it?" Cora asked quietly. Derek knew she was trying to keep their conversation private. "I know you angry when mom told you about him. But you guys are getting along now, so I thought..."

Derek turned to look at her raised an eyebrow. "You've never been worried about my relationships before."

"You've never been so unhappy about one before."

"No. It's not Scott."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." Derek nodded. "We- he's a good guy. I'm sure we'll be able to figure us out eventually."

Cora grinned mischievously.

Derek narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"You smiled. When you talked about Scott," she continued when Derek frowned. "You're starting to like him."

"Everyone likes him."

"Not like you do." Cora's grin just grew bigger. "What was that silly playground song children sing? Derek and Sco-"

"Cora...," Derek warned.

She pouted. It was fake, he could tell, but she pouted. "You know, Stiles is right. You are a grump."

Derek flashed his eyes at her in annoyance. He was not sure why her expression changed when he did. He didn't mean anything by it, she knew that.

"Does Scott know?" she whispered.

"Know what?"

"About your eyes."

Derek froze. They never talked about it. It never came up. "He should. Mom must have told them."

"She must have," Cora agreed even though she sounded unsure.

They remained silent. Derek wished they didn't, he needed something to help him ignore the doubt that was creeping in his mind. Did Scott know about his eyes?

Everyone in the Hale pack had accepted it as soon as it happened. But Derek knew that some packs saw a blue-eyed beta as a danger to the pack, a disgrace. He has heard stories about how some blue-eyed betas were shunned into becoming omegas of the pack, if they even remained in the pack. He couldn't imagine the McCall pack being that way but that didn't mean that they'd like one married into the pack.

The worry picked on him. Scott deserves to know something as important as this. And Derek needed to know if he did.

He got up from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Cora asked when he was at the door.

"I need to talk to Scott."

"Good luck," he heard her say as he left the room.

He made his way to the guest bedroom that Scott shared with Stiles, both of whom were talking inside. He knocked on the door softly knowing they would hear it. 

Stiles was the one to open the door. His expression changed into a scowl as soon as he saw Derek on the other said. "It's late."

"I know," Derek conceded. "But I need to talk to Scott."

"You have the whole day tomorrow and a lifetime after Sunday."

"Stiles," Derek heard Scott call out before he came into view. "You said you'd stop."

"We only agreed about nicknames," Stiles protested. Scott gave him a look, making him roll his eyes. "Fine. I need sleep anyway. You talk to your boyfriend."

"Fiancé," both Derek and Scott corrected at the same time. They turned to look at each other. Scott smiled and Derek felt his lips twitch up.

"Whatever," Stiles muttered as he went back to bed.

Scott returned his attention to Derek. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Uh," Derek glanced over to Stiles form on the bed. "Can you meet me somewhere? Maybe at the lake?"

"Okay," Scott agreed but with a frown on his face. "Derek, is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I just-" Derek wasn't exactly sure how to end that sentence. He let it be. "Just meet me at the lake in 10 minutes, alright?"

Scott just nods despite the worry Derek can sense in him.

"Thank you," he says before walking away from Scott.

* * *

Derek stood near the lake, waiting for Scott. He felt a sense of dread. This was the first time in years that he was going to have to explain the reason behind the change of his eye color.

He was told many times that he wasn't wrong in doing what he did, even by Paige's parents. But the guilt consumed him. He still feels it sometimes. Some deep dark corner in his mind doesn't think he deserves to let go. And it was probably right.

"Derek?" He didn't hear Scott coming up behind him so hearing he jumped a little when he heard Scott call him. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

Derek shook his head. "No. It's fine. I was just thinking about something."

"The same something you want to talk to me about?"

"Actually, it's what I want to show you."

Scott raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"

Derek closed his eyes. He didn't have to but he always had a flair for the dramatic, or at least that's what he's been told. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing bright blue.

Scott's eyes widened at the sight. Derek knew whatever damage he was going to do was already done so he let his eyes go back to his natural green.

"You didn't know about this, did you?" Derek asked in a quiet voice.

Slowly, Scott shook his head. "No."

"They should have. Hell, I should have said something earlier. I'm sorry."

"How'd it happen?"

Suddenly Derek didn’t want to share. He didn’t need someone else to know how much he screwed up."It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does." When Derek looked unconvinced Scott took a step forward. "You're not a killer, Derek."

"How do you know?" Derek snapped. "We met 11 days ago. You know nothing about me."

"Because that's what my instincts are telling me."

Derek didn't say anything. He didn't know how to begin explaining to Scott what he did.

He felt something squeeze his hand. He looked down to see his hand in Scott's. Scott was gently moving his thumb in circles on the back of Derek's hand, mirroring the older man's actions at the picnic table a few nights ago.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me what happened," Scott started. "Whatever it was, you must have had a good reason for it. I trust you."

"So did she," Derek gasped out, still not looking at Scott.

"You don't have to tell me," Scott reiterated.

Derek finally looked up. "You deserve to know. It's why I asked you to meet me here. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

Scott nodded but didn't say anything. Derek took that as an invitation to continue. He took a deep breath before starting.

"I was 15. I asked my girlfriend to meet me at the edge of the preserve. It was close enough to the house if we needed to get there but far enough so we wouldn't be overheard. Or at least I thought it was."

"Paige, my girlfriend," Derek clarified, "was reluctant, but I begged her. We probably weren't even there for 10 minutes when the hunters came. They drugged us before we could even try to call out for help."

"They can't do that," Scott mused so low that Derek barely caught it.

"They were rogue hunters," Derek sneered, "They weren't following any code. They just wanted to kill anything that wasn't human. It didn't matter that we didn't do anything."

Scott looked like it hurt him to hear that. _It probably did._ He must be sensing Derek's feeling strongly right now. But Derek continued it anyway. He didn't think he had it in him to tell Scott about this any other time.

"They took us to some abandoned building right outside town. It took the pack two days to find us. The hunters spent the whole time torturing us. They wanted to break the stronger out of the two of us. So they spent more time on her."

"Because she was the female," Scott stated flatly.

Derek nodded.

"Did they make you...?" Scott didn't need to complete the sentence for Derek to know what he was asking.

"No. By the time the pack got handled the hunters Paige was- her body was dying faster than it was healing. She was in so much pain."

Derek ran a hand down his face. The image of her clutching onto him in pain came to his mind. It was the only thing about the whole ordeal he remembered clearly. He had nightmares about it for a month before Talia decided to dull them out enough for him to remember that it had happened without remembering the details. Derek begged her to leave that memory alone. He needed to remember it, it was what he deserved.

He took another deep breath before he continued. "I took as much as I could. But Paige knew she wouldn't survive the night so she asked me to help her end it. I just- I couldn't see her crying in pain. I didn’t know what else to do."

He remembered the sickening snap of her neck. Sometimes he could still feel it. Those were the worst days.

"Don't know what happened after that," Derek said licking his lips. "It was almost 12 hours later when I woke up in my bed. My eyes had already changed colors."

He remembers feeling ashamed of them, of what he had done. But no one, not even Peter who was always equipped with snide remarks made him think that he was any lesser. It only made him feel worse. It took him almost a year to move on from that what happened that day, even longer to enter into relationships.

It was probably why he hated the idea of an arranged marriage so much. If he couldn't make it work with someone he chose to be with, how was he supposed to last with someone he barely knew?

Derek was pulled out of his musings by a tug on his hand. The same hand, he realized, that was clutching onto Scott's. 

"I'm not going to tell you that it's not your fault, because I know you wouldn't believe me anyway. But what you had to do that day, it took a lot of courage."

"I killed someone."

"You saved her from suffering any longer than she had to."

"That's what I keep telling myself," Derek muttered. He slipped his hand out of Scott's. "Look, I know this changes things."

"No. it doesn't."

"Scott..." Derek sighed out, suddenly feeling tired.

"We have blue-eyed betas in our pack too, you know. My mom doesn't believe in punishing someone for something that is out of their control." After a beat he added, "I don't either. So believe me when I say this doesn't change anything."

Derek looked for any signs to see if Scott was feeling opposite of what he was claiming to fell. He breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t find any. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me," Scott shrugged him off. "Anyone who has met you wouldn't think otherwise."

Derek could feel a slight blush creeping up his neck. He was glad for the cover of darkness the night gave.

"We should go to bed." Derek only realized how that sounded when Scott laughed. "Crap. I didn't mean-"

"I know.” Sobering up quickly, Scott asked. “You good?”

Derek thought about it. He still felt like crap after talking about that night. That was something that was never going to change. But there was also that sense of cheer that came with telling someone the truth and having them accept you nonetheless.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

“Great.” Then nodding towards the house, he added, “Come on,"

 The walked in companionable silence. Derek found out he enjoyed Scott's presence in silence as much as he did when they had conversations. Scott had a calming effect on him. It was a trait he remembered wanting in his partner a long time ago.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Scott stopping at the top of the stairs, making him bump into the other werewolf.

"Isn't your room the other way?" Scott asked, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. I just-"

"Changed your mind about the whole bed thing?" Scott teased.

"Shut up," Derek shot back fondly. He turned and started walking in the right direction. "Goodnight, Scott."

"Goodnight, Derek."

He could still hear the smile in Scott's voice.

Cora woke up when Derek entered the room.

"Sorry," he whispered as he got back into bed.

"It's fine. How'd it go?" she asked. He could hear the worry in her voice.

"He doesn't mind."

"Good," she whispered back smiling.

"You were right, you know."

Her eyebrows furrowed in sleepy confusion. "About what?"

"I do like him." 

“Told you,” she mumbled before falling back asleep.

* * *

The wedding was over as soon as it started, at least that’s what it felt like to Derek. Both him and Scott had went up to the alter, performed the handfasting ceremony, as per tradition when wolves from two different packs were married, said their vows and kissed for the first time.

Derek was sitting alone at that night’s reception, watching as Scott talked to pack members he probably wasn’t going to meet in a while, when Talia came over and took a seat next to him.

“How are you feeling?”

Derek turned to her smiling. “Tired. But glad that Laura’s not gonna ask me incessant questions about flower arrangements or table runners.”

“It was a beautiful ceremony.”

“It was,” Derek agreed. “Scott said everything looked amazing.”

“So you two are getting along?” Talia asked, concern laced in her voice.

“You’ve seen us at the house, mom. You know we are.”

Talia nodded. “Just had to make sure.”

“Mom, I’m sorry. For reacting the way I did that day.”

“You had every right.”

“Maybe. But I still shouldn’t have.” Talia looked like she was about to protest when Derek asked. “Do you still believe that when two people are meant to be together, there will always be path to for them meet?”

“Of course, I do.”

Derek looked back at Scott before he continued, “Thank you for being that path for us, mom.”

Talia smiled. “You’re welcome, baby.”

 


End file.
